“Disability, Saints, and the Need to Feel Seen,” by Charlotte Riggle

In times past, and to some degree even today, having a family member with a disability was considered embarrassing; there was a sense of shame. And so the family would shelter their member with a disability away from public view. Hiding a person away is no way to express the truth that persons with disability are fully human, made in the image of God despite physical, mental, emotional, and social deficits. 

Charlotte Riggle addresses these matters in her post below, showing the various ways that persons with disabilities can be seen. There is no reason that they should not be seen everywhere! There is every reason that exposure on all fronts would help those of us who consider ourselves “normal” to understand and learn to appreciate their neighbors with disabilities and to become their friends.

In the latter portion of the post there are listed Orthodox Christian Saints who had disabilities.

To access:

Disability, saints, and the need to feel seen

 

Christ Is Risen!

Holy Myrrhbearers

This icon of the Holy Myrrhbearers depicts the biblical story of the women arriving at the tomb to anoint the body of Christ. The angel is seated upon the stone that covered the tomb, and he is pointing to the empty garments showing that Christ has risen from the dead.

When You did cry, Rejoice, unto the Myrrh-bearers, You did make the lamentation of Eve the first mother to cease by Your Resurrection, O Christ God. And You did bid Your Apostles to preach: The Savior is risen from the grave.

“It is the day of the Resurrection! Let us adorn ourselves with the splendor of the festival and embrace one another! And let us say, O brethren, even unto those who hate us: ‘Let us forgive all things at the Resurrection, and thus let us cry out: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

.Access the videos by clicking on the You Tube title into a new tab

 

This Evening – The Bridegroom Matins

Behold, the Bridegroom

The You Tube Page for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

To access:

https://www.youtube.com/@NAMICommunicate

444 Videos and counting . . .

See More 

Caring for Adult Children with Mental Illness: How to Help

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To Access: WebMD: Caring for Adult Children with Mental Illness: How to Help

A Psychiatry.com research study of 600 caregivers found that

The researchers note that their findings align with those of previous studies suggesting that caregivers of family members with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and dementia experience more stresses, anxiety, and depression, compared to caregivers of people with other chronic illnesses.

Ken Duckworh, MD,  chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, addresses these concerns in his book You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health—With Advice from Experts and Wisdom from Real Individuals and Families

This book is very thorough, encompassing thee gamet of life with a family member with mental illness. Along with professional advice there are 130 first-person accounts of people with mental illness sharing their experiences and struggles.

Videos

Results from You Tube (Several!)

The Weblog “Not of this World”

Not of this World

. . . is a blog written by an Bethany Sheldahl, who is on the autism spectrum. The post that first appears pertains to the author’s struggle with executive function. What is executive function? See here:

 https://musingsofanaspie.com/executive-function-series/ 

The author has found a resource that helps with this:

Landon Bryce

https://habitica.com/static/home

There are other posts concerning struggles with Church (Orthodox), acceptance, a supposed “cure that caused health problems, and a book recommendation, “I Love Being My Own Autistic Self,” by Landon Bryce:

https://alienfromplanetautism.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/book-review-i-love-being-my-own-autistic-self-by-landon-bryce/

 

Morals, Abortion, Contraceptives

Romanian Sign Language Prayer Book

Prayer Book in Sign Language Published in Romanian

The book includes the Trisagion Prayers, the Jesus Prayer, and the Prayers Before Holy Communion.

St. Cyprian

It was translated by Fr. Ionuț Mihalașcu, the priest for the community of hearing-impaired believers in Buzău. The prayers were published with the blessing of His Eminence Abp. Ciprian of Buzău and Vrancea, the archdiocese reports.

There was a great need for a prayer book in sign language for the deaf children and believers in our city,” said Fr. Ionuț. The book “brought great joy to the faces of those who pray with their hands and who need, in addition to writing, a physical visual support in order to more easily understand” their prayers.

Joyfully Helping

Christ Heals a Disabled Girl Through the Prayers of an Orthodox Christian Priest